The temporary staffing industry in the Netherlands has seen an ongoing decline in activities this year with the latest statistics indicating that temporary employment in Europe’s fourth-largest staffing market is showing little signs of improvement.

Figures from the Dutch association of employment agencies (ABU) show today that temporary billings are both down in terms of hours worked (-5%) and turnover achieved (-2%) in the period from mid-June to mid-July when compared to a year ago. 

Once again, the medical sector was harshly affected by the downturn, with hours worked declining by -18% while turnover was down by -14%. In the administrative sector there was a -1% decrease in hours worked but turnover increased by +2% year-over-year. In the industrial sector hours were down by -6% as sales dropped by -4%. Similarly in the technical sector, hours and turnover declined by -5%.

The Dutch staffing firm USG People, ranked eighth in the world, recently reported a sharp fall in staffing revenue during the second quarter of the year as economic uncertainty put a brake on European growth. In July, Randstad also saw Dutch Q2 revenues decline by -3%.

This comes after a recent forecast which expects a continuous slowdown in the local labour market with a recovery of the staffing market not anticipated until 2013. Staffing Industry Analysts recently revised its market forecast for the Netherlands down to -5% this year.